Filmmakers Jeremy Whittaker and Roy Anderson Bring Jamaican Culture and History to a New Generation

Huffington Post - over 2 years

As more and more Black young people of Jamaican heritage are raised in the USA, Canada, and the UK, it is important for them to have an understanding of their history and culture in order to develop a strong sense of identity. Without a solid grounding, there is a risk that youth will be influenced by the negative stereotypes that are prevalent in mainstream media. Feature films and documentaries are 2 of the most powerful vehicles for learning about the histories and cultures of people of African descent. They also promote cross-cultural understanding and provide a way for people around the world to learn about each other. The opportunity to discover new music, new artists and even musical genres with which they are not familiar make the whole process enjoyable. Jamaican reggae music is increasingly popular with audiences of all races. Thanks to two films, one with a modern storyline and one historical, produced by Jamaican producers who lived in Canada for many years, audience...

"You confuse nasty with a European sense of irony," diva designer Adriana says with barely concealed glee. A rich widow who lives in a gorgeous Greenwich Village townhouse, she can afford her affectations.
However, when Adriana (a terrific Cynthia Harris) dies, her broke friend Jimmy and his real-estate sidekick Rita (Julie Halston) concoct a kooky caper. Jimmy -- "I'm not a drag queen, I'm a celebrity tribute artist!" -- will impersonate her long enough to sell the manse. But two wrinkles quickly emerge: Christina, an emotionally unstable niece (Mary Bacon), claims the townhouse was left to her, while Rodney (Jonathan Walker), an ex-beau of Adriana's, threatens to expose the hoax.
There is one man clever enough to imbue such a real-estate fraud with farce and zingy one-liners: Charles Busch. And his latest work, The Tribute Artist, now at 59E59 Theaters, is wonderfully entertaining. As any New Yorker can attest, finding an apartment in Manhattan is tough, expensive and soul c...

NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Cedella Marley about her new off-Broadway musical, Three Little Birds. It's adapted from her children's book — which itself was inspired by the song written by her father, the late reggae superstar Bob Marley. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us

For Cedella Marley, keeping her father's legacy alive is a full-time job.
The daughter of music legend Bob Marley is the author of multiple children's books inspired by her dad, the designer of a fashion brand named for the Wailers album "Catch a Fire," and CEO of Tuff Gong International, an organization he founded to support creativity. She's also worked with her brothers to launch Marley's Beverage Company, featuring a new line of relaxation beverages. The aptly named Marley's Mellow Mood recently kicked off Marley's Music Uprising, a competition that will offer the winning band (LA's PapaFish) a recording session with Stephen Marley at Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, Jamaica.
We caught up with the entrepreneur and mom of three to chat about her recent projects and famous family.
Why did you want to start Marley's Mellow Mood?
Our father was an entrepreneur. And he was also a farmer. And we’ve all been foodies growing up. We love being in the kitchen and we love c...

In the 10th installment of America's Next Top Model: College Edition (is it still college-themed?), the model-hopefuls continue their Jamaican education by meeting Bob Marley's least-known progeny, slip-sliding down waterfalls, and confronting Tyra Banks' greatest fear (spoiler: it's dolphins). In other words, they complete a smattering of stereotypical Spring Break-style activities -- I realize as I type this that "Spring Break" would've been a much more logical explanation for the destination that Tyra's "I shot my first swimsuit cover here," but ANTM basks in the stench of missed opportunity, so here we are.
The episode opens with stock shots of Jamaican shores and obligatory shots of the Half Moon resort, where the cast and crew are being put up at an assumedly discounted rate. The girls saunter into their suite in floral wraps and briefly discuss anorexcellent Victoria's untimely departure while studying Nastasia's winning photo, which is plastered with hooker-ish co...

With Grand Slam tennis season underway and Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open coming up, this summer was the perfect time for sports style icon Venus Williams to relaunch her clothing brand.
I talked to Williams recently about her new "tennis lifestyle" line called EleVen, which she is producing with an L.A.-based manufacturer.
Fashion, like tennis, is her "heart and sweat and pride and joy," said Williams, who sketches her own designs. She's particularly excited about the dress she's created to wear at the Olympics, which is inspired by her favorite superhero.
Right now she's preoccupied with tennis and set to play Wimbledon, which starts Monday. But she's up against some tough odds, battling an autoimmune disease and coming into the tournament unseeded for the first time since her debut at the Old England club in 1997.
To read more of my story about Williams, click here.
-- Booth Moore
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Cedella Marley, Puma unveil Jamaican Olympic uniforms
For 2012 S...

Although those of us watching the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics aren't likely to get our hands on the exact same clothes and accessories the athletes will be wearing as they parade into the stadium (some of which I've detailed in a story for Sunday's Image section), there are plenty of purchasable options for anyone angling for a style-centric buy-in to the Olympic fervor. Among them:
A consumer version of the Puma by Cedella Marley yellow windbreaker that Jamaican athletes will wear on the medals podium at the 2012 London games is expected to hit stores (and online via Macys.com) Monday ($70), and running shoes with a design inspired by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's spikes are available through Puma's own e-commerce site now.
If your tastes are more on the Marley side of the Puma/Cedella Marley partnership, you're in luck, since the eldest daughter of late reggae legend Bob Marley has recently expanded her own clothing line by adding swimwear. The High Tide co...

Bob Marley at the 2012 London Olympics? You can bet the late reggae superstar will be there in spirit.
That's the conclusion one might arrive at on seeing the uniforms the Jamaican Olympic team will be wearing during the opening and closing ceremonies and on the podium at the upcoming Games. Unveiled earlier this month in London at a ceremony that included three-time Olympic gold medal winner Usain Bolt and fashion designer Cedella Marley -- Bob's eldest daughter -- the collection riffs on the colors (green, gold and black) and designs of that country's flag, as well as imagery often associated with the legendary singer-songwriter who passed away in 1981.
The Cedella Marley for Puma collection will send the men on Jamaica's Olympic team into the opening ceremony clad in a lightweight, short-sleeve button-front shirts in army green with black accents at the shoulders, a black skinny tie and an embroidered Jamaican flag patch on the right breast. (To further hammer home the conne...

Derek Shearer: Can Sports Save the World? Reflections of a Former Little Leaguer on Sports, Diplomacy, and Globalization

Huffington Post - over 5 years

This weekend, my hometown Los Angeles Kings will play the Devils in New Jersey for the Stanley Cup hockey championship -- a sport which originated in Canada and is played professionally in the U.S. by stars from Finland, Sweden, and Russia, as well as Canada and the U.S. Not much of a hockey fan, I'm more tuned in to the NBA playoffs. I'm rooting for the young upstarts on the Oklahoma Thunder after they defeated my favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers. My colleague David Axeen is planning his weekend around the European soccer championship, starting today in Poland and Ukraine, which will be televised in real time on ESPN -- a sign of the sport's increasing popularity with Americans. British soccer star David Beckham now plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy. You can see him in hamburger ads or modeling underwear on TV almost any evening.
Other friends are planning their summer trips to London to attend the 2012 Olympics. The sports pages of the New York Times and Los Angeles ...

Concentrating on the man more than his music, this authorised and comprehensive biopic gets to the root of the reggae legend, finds Alistair Harkness Kevin Macdonald makes a triumphant and welcome return to feature documentary filmmaking with Marley, an appropriately laid-back but detailed and absorbing exploration of Bob Marley that cuts through the stoned student pontificating that has reduced the reggae legend to a mystical, meaningless icon, in order to make a clear-headed and insightful case for his cultural importance in the 20th century. Like last year’s magnificent Senna (which Macdonald also produced), it’s a film that requires no great love or knowledge of its subject, just a willingness to appreciate why some people are able to distinguish themselves on the world stage and have an impact that goes far beyond their immediate area of expertise. Of course, Marley is hardly an obscure figure in need of rediscovery, but his story hasn’t been as exhaustively pored over as hi...

PARIS, France (AFP) — When Jamaican athletics great Usain Bolt takes part in next year&#39;s Olympic opening ceremony in London he along with his teammates will be dressed by the daughter of another Jamaican legend, the late reggae singer Bob Marley

Cedella Marley has been appointed the official designer for Team Jamaica&#39;s uniforms, which will be worn by the country&#39;s athletes competing in the London Olympics and Paralympics. The 44 year old reveals her collection was influenced by reggae legend

“The House of Marley and the Marley audio products that bear our family name were created to spread our father&#39;s music and vision to a new generation,” Cedella Marley, Bob Marley&#39;s daughter, has been quoted as saying. The House of Marley is looking at

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